Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty is an Immoral Punishment

Imagine witnessing an execution. What would that be like? U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan gave this description of an execution by electric chair, “ ‘.... the prisoners eyeballs sometimes pop out and rest on [his] cheeks. The prisoner often defecates, urinates, and vomits blood and drool. The body turns bright red as its temperature rises, and the prisoner’s flesh swells and his skin stretches to the point of breaking. Sometimes the prisoner catches fire…. Witnesses hear a loud sustained sound like bacon frying and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh permeates the chamber.’ Although this method is no longer the sole method of execution in any state, this inhumane way of executing is

The 8th Amendment states this; Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted (U.S. Const. Amend. VIII). Out of 8,776 executions from 1890 to 2010 276 executions were botched, or carried out badly or carelessly, a percentage of 3.15% of the time. This severly violates the 8th Amendment. One example is in February 3rd of 2016, Brandon Jones of Georgia had a botched execution from lethal injection. According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, “After spending 24 minutes unsuccessfully trying to insert an IV into Jones’ left arm, the executioners spent 8 minuted trying to insert it into his right arm, and when that failed they again attempted to insert it in his left arm. They then asked a physician to violate several codes of medical ethics for assistance, and he or she spent 13 minutes inserting and stitching the IV near Jones’ groin. Six minutes later, Jones’ eyes popped open. He was 72 years old at the time of his execution.” First off, Jones was hurting throughout his execution because the executioners could not get the IV right. He then had to suffer with the injection in his groin(“Botched Executions”). Last but not least, he was on death row for 35 years (Segura). This is only one of many botched executions over the years, some violating the 8th Amendment even

Also according to Bushman, “FBI Unified Crime reports show that states with the death penalty have homicide 48-101% higher than states without the death penalty.” In saying this, Bushman urges that despite many claims of the Death Penalty deterring crime, it in fact does not. Many murders are “comitted in a fit of rage” according to an international study Bushman mentions in his article. He also concedes that, “after an intense argument.... people rarely consider the consequences of their actions.” In other words Bushman is saying that most murders happen after a rough argument when people don’t really care about what happens as long as they “win” the argument, no matter what it takes. Hence the fact that the Death Penalty doesn’t deter crime. Bushman quotes Former U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno, in her statement, “I have inquired for most of my adult life about studies that might show that the death penalty is a deterrent. And I have not seen any research that would substantiate that point.” Reno’s point is that after years of being an Attorney General she has never found any facts that support the claims stating that the death penalty deters crime